Garment support device



1957 A. s. KAUFMAN GARMENT SUPPORT DEVICE Filed Feb. 11, 1954 IIIIIVI-169 i T1 I J I INVENTOR. A lfm S. Kuf man ATTORNE Y United StatesPatent 7 2,777,134 GARMENT SUPPORT DEVIGE Alfred's; Kaufman, New York,N. Y. Application February 11-, 1954,Serial No. 409,618

1' Claim. (Cl; ii -301) This invention! relates. to improvements indevices for supporting upon the body ot the wearer, trousers, skirts andthe like.

An object of the invention is: to: provide a? novel and improved garmentsupport device which includesa. plurality of major elements and whichare combinable in cooperative engagement withz an upper marginal portionof a pair of trousers, a skirt or the like, for engaging; the same withthe body of the. wearer, in non-rigid resilientdisposition thereupon.

Another object ofthe invention is to: provide anovel and improvedgarment support device in which there isa plurality of major elements,elongated for extension over the shoulders of the wearer, andadaptedattheir end portions, for cooperative prehensile engagement with;

upper marginal portions of a pair of trousers, skirt orthe like,for-supporting. the same upon: the body, and in which ,novel means is.provided for releasable mutual. engagement between the said majorelements at locations intermediate their endportions.

A further object of the invention is to-provide a novel. and improvedgarment supporting. device of the character described and illustratedherein, which isconstructed: and

arranged for use in a plurality of ways, as asuspender.

type of garment support, and as a belt typeof garment support, eithermode of such use being possible. without structural alteration of thedevice, as a result of its novel construction.

Still another object of the invention is to provide anovel and improvedgarment in the nature. of a pair or? trousers, skirt or the like, whichis provided at its upper marginal portion or waistband area, with bodyengaging means releasabl-y carried thereby, said means being con.-structed for interchangeable use either in suspender fashion, or in beltfashion, by means of simple adjustment of the body engaging means,thetrous'ers being thus inherently convertible from a suspenders-typetrouser to a belted type trouser, andv vice versa.

Still a further objectof the invention is toprovide anovel and improvedgarment of the character described, and body engaging means carriedthereby, which is simple in design, inexpensive to manufacture, highlyattractive in use and appearance, and in which, when: used: as a. suspender-type trouser, the user always has at hand a belt, for use as hedesires, and when used as a belted type trouser, the user can readilyand easily convert it to a suspender type trouser.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel and improvedsuspender device for apparel, which may be readily and easily convertedand adjusted into a belt; the belt being adjustable for various waistsizes.

A further objectof the invention is to provide a: novel and improvedgarment and garmentsupporting means of the character described, which isusable as desired, for adult trousers or skirts, or for childrenstrousers or skirts.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent from the following description 2,777,134 Patented Jan. 15, 1957trousers with: the garment supporting device arranged as a belt:instead; of as a-sus'pender'.

Figure 4- is a plan view showing the garment supporting: means in;outstretched disposition, apart from the trousers, both major elementsbeing pi v'otally engaged.

Figure 5) is a fragmentary side elevational view takensubstantially onviewing plane 5-5 of Figure 4.

In connection: with the: wearing of garments such as trousers',.slaeks,-or'skirts, the user commonly may employ means: suchas a beit orsuspenders, for engaging the same: with. the body; Since thesusp'en'dersextend upwardly from the waist: portion of the garment; and overtheshoulders,v while the belt extends only around the waist portionitself, the problems encountered in manufactoring such garmentsupporting devices are commonly consideredWidely'difierent from eachother. Many'men commend the useo'f suspenders in supporting theirtrousers, as providing: for somewhat more correct formal hang of thetrousers when worn under a jacket, and prefer to wear suspenders undersuch conditions. However,'. when the coat or jacket is removed, eitherwhile indooradue to'it'he' temperature of their surroundings, or forgreater freedom of movement in an office or the like; or while in thehome, their a problemarises, since it is commonly through to be morecorrect to remove the suspenders and wear a belt when no jacket or coatis worn; As a result, many persons, who are wearing suspenders for theirtrousers, will hesitate toor refrain from removing their coator jacket,since their suspenders will. become visible; and will instead suifereither the excessive heat, or other inconvenience, while continuing towear the coat.-

Acccrdingtto-the present invention, a person who likes to wearsuspenders, or prefers to do so, may, if he so desiregre'movehis coato-r'jacltet at anytime; confident in the knowledge that he mayimrne'diately convert his trousers support from suspenders into anattractiveand comfortable belt, which: is adjustable to fit his waist,and, their restore it to use as a suspender when he puts on his: coat:again; all this without any constructional bother or need for specialtools or the like. In" order to understand clearly the nature of theinvention, and the bestmeansfor'carrying it out, reference may now hehad to the drawings, in whichlike numerals denote similar parts.throughout the several views.

As shown, there is a'pair of trousers generally indicat'ed at! 10',-and: including trousers legs 12 and 14- which are joined at the upperportion and thus merge with the seat PEItiODiGf th'e'trousersas at 16 toaccommodate the body of the wearer, the rearward portion of thetrousersg. there is a permanent seam I8 which may tor minate atiits'upper portionin a V'-shaped cutout or notch 20? i11 v som'ei styles oftrousers, and at the front as seenin- Figures 1: and 3; there is a flyor placket closure at 22;. which; maybe: formed: with button andbuttonhole closure construction, a slide fastener, or other convenientleftward margin of the rightward trousers panel 28. Similarly, therearward trousers panels and 32, as seen in Figure 2, which are joinedat marginal seam 18, are also joined by side seams 34 and 36respectively, to the front panels 28 and 26. Side pockets 38 and 40,, aswell as rear pockets 42 and 44, may also be provided, being securedthrough openings formed in the various panels of the trousers, aslocated on the drawings, by means of suitable stitching of the pocketsto the panels.

Belt loops 46a, 46b, 466, etc., may be secured at their upper and lowerends to the various locations around the waistband 24 of the trousers,to accommodate the supporting means when used as a belt, as hereinafterde-,

scribed in detail. In order to engage the trousers with the body of thewearer, I provide novel trousers supporting means. As seen in Figures 4and 5, such trousers supporting means includes a pair of elongatedsupporting members generally indicated at 50a and 5011. Such majorelements 50a and 59!), may be made of any suitable material, which isflexible, such as cloth, fabric, leather, plastic, or other suitablematerial, andmay be surfaced to match with or contrast with the fabricforming the trousers themselves. Thus those portions of elongated majorelements 50a and 50b, which lie between locations 52 and their end tips54, may be made of, such cloth, fabric, leather or plastic material,while according to a preferred form of the invention, there may beelastic or resilient stretchable material sections as at 56, and betweenlocations 58 and 52, with second end tips 60 secured by stitching 62 orother means, to the resilient sections 56. The tips 60 and the endportions 54 of the elongated major elements may be suitably rounded oilas shown.

Intermediate portions of the two major elongated members or elements 50aand 50b are brought into mutually overlapping positions, as seen inFigures 4 and 5, and are releasably secured together making them anassembled trousers suspension unit, in the manner shown. Thus I providecooperating male and female snap fastener elements 66 and 68, which aresecuredrespectively to and through the overlapping portions of theelongated major elements 50b and 5011, respectively. The male snapfastener element 66 is provided on its lower end with a flange 70, andon its upper end with an up wardly projecting stud, which is adapted tosnap into engagement with a matching socket carried and formed on thelower portion of the female snap fastener element 68, which, on itsupper portion, is provided with a suitable roof or cap member 72.

Button-hole openings 74 are formed through each of the end tabs 60 ofthe elongated major elements 50a and 50b, for engagement with buttons 76carried on the rearward portions of the waistband of the trousers asseen best in Figures 2 and 4. Similarly, a series of buttons 80 issecured in mutually interspaced relationship to the end portions nearlocations 54, of the major elongated elements 50a and 50b, forengagement with buttonholes 82 formed through the frontal portions ofthe waistband 24 of the trousers. ures 1 and 2, it is clear that theelongated elements 50:: and 50b, extend over the shoulders of the.wearer, in suspender fashion, to support the trousers on his body, andthat the length. of the :suspender type supporting means is adjustableby selection of the desired button 80 which is to engage the buttonholes82. Inaddition, the resilient insert sections 56 permit yielding whenneeded, without binding. As seen in Figure 1, the tips 54 of thesuspender elements may be inserted inside the waistband, with thebuttons 80 projecting through the buttonhole 82 as selected, and as seenin Figure 2, the tabs 60' may be When thus engaged, as seen in Fig-,

4 outside the waistband, with the buttons 76 projecting therethrough asshown.

When the wearer finds it necessary or desirable to wear a belt typetrousers supporting means, it is only necessary to unsnap the snapfastener elements 66 and 68, separating the two major elements 50a and50b from each other. Since each of the elements 50a and 50b is of alength approximating the length of a belt which would be needed toencircle the waist of the wearer, it is seen that he can now take eitherof the separated members 50a or 5%, and use it belt fashion, byinserting it through the belt loops 46a, 46b, etc., in the manner shownin Figure 3. As thus seen, the end 54 of the member 50a, is overlappedby the tabs 60, and one of the buttons is engaged in a correspondingmanner, in the buttonhole 74 of the tab 60. The elastic section 56 nowprovides elasticity for the belt, and there is the utmost ofconvenience. Also, the user has two belts, which he can interchange atwill, or combine them again as explained above, for use suspenderfashion.

While the device can be used on mens trousers, and slacks, it is alsousable on childrens slacks, and likewise on girls skirts, being securedthereto at the waistband in the manner described hereinabove. At lowcost, the consumer is provided with a combination device at no greatercost than that which he would pay for either a suspender or belt alone.

Although I have described my invention in specific terms, it will beunderstood that various changes may be made in size, shape, materialsand arrangement without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention as claimed.

I claim: 7

A garment support device for use as a suspender and a belt, comprising afirst major garment elongated support means, a second major garmentelongated support means, complementary snap fastener element meanscarried jointly by both said elongated support means intermediate theirend portions, and adapted for snap pivotal releasable engagement whendisposed in mutually overlying suspender type disposition, said majorelongated support means being of equal overall length, and sufiicientlylong to encircle the waist of the wearer when separated and in mutuallyoverlapping belt-like relation, said major elongated support means beingconstructed and arranged for sequential alternate wearing as a belt andas suspenders, a plurality of spaced button means carried on a first endportion of each of said garment support means for selective engagementwith buttonholes carried on a waist portion of a garment, resilientextension members carried at the second end portions of said majorelongated support means outwardly of their said location of releasablepivotal mutual engagement, for allowing their overall length to beincreased upon application of stretching force, and end tab meanscarried on the outer ends of said resilient extension members, said endtab means having buttonholes formed therein for direct engagement withbuttons carried on opposite waist portions of a garment to be supported,said resilient extension members being free of any covering orencasement.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS366,475 Gilmore July 12, 1887 877,332 Hayden Ian. 21, 1908 1,421,690Howard July 4, 1922 1,675,234 Tarlton June 26, 1928 2,587,126 EllingtonFeb. 26, 1952

